Warm weather is good news for fishermen

Editor's note: Terry Knight's weekend column is appearing a day late this week. It will return to its normal Friday slot next week.

The warm weather has definitely improved the bass fishing at Clear Lake. The water temperature has been as high as 54 degrees by late in the afternoon and the bass are starting to move into the shallow water. The bass at Clear Lake normally start to stage for spawning by the middle of March.

The top lures this past week have been jigs and swimbaits. The Alabama Rig is still the most popular lure on the lake. Most of the fishermen are rigging the Alabama Rig with KeiTech swimbaits and doing a super slow retrieve. LV500 lipless crankbaits have also been effective. The other good news is that the north end of the lake near Rocky Point is finally putting out good numbers of fish. Some of the more successful fishermen are finding bass a mile offshore in 10-15 feet of water. The trick is to keep moving until you locate active fish. This is where jerkbaits or the Alabama Rig should prove deadly.

One area that is about to break wide open is from Adobe Creek to Long Tule Point. The State Park is also on the verge of producing a lot of bass, the reason being that the hitch should start staging prior to their spawning runs up Adobe Creek and Kelsey Creek. As the hitch move into the shallows the bass will follow them.

Fishermen using live jumbo minnows are still catching bass off the rockpiles at Rattlesnake Island. Most of the fish are coming from a depth of 20-30 feet. A few bass are being caught in Rodman Slough and along the Nice-Lucerne shoreline.

The third annual Konocti Vista Casino Team Bass Classic is under way and winds up Sunday. The entry fee is $160 per team and the field will be limited to 100 boats. The Clear Lake Team Bass Tournament, sponsored by the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and Konocti Vista Casino, is scheduled for March 23-24. As of Wednesday there were 35 teams signed up. The tournament is expected to draw approximately 100 boats.

Catfish action has been very good for the few fishermen after them. Catches of four to five fish a day are common. Jumbo minnows or cut bait are taking most of the fish. A few crappie are being caught in the south end of the lake but it's not a sure thing. The crappie are tightly schooled and if you can locate a school of fish you can catch 10-15, but it's still considered a tough bite. The good news is a few fishermen are catching some huge bluegill and one of the better areas has been Shag Rock.

The trout action at Upper Blue Lake has slowed although there are still a few fishermen catching limits by trolling or drift fishing in the middle of the lake. Dave Brabec of Clear Lake Outdoors in Lakeport fished the lake on Wednesday and he and a friend each caught a limit of trout using nightcrawlers and Power Bait. A few bass are also being caught along the Highway 20 shoreline on plastic worms rigged on drop-shots.

A number of fishermen are wondering why Indian Valley Reservoir and Lake Pillsbury have not been stocked with trout or kokanee. According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DWF), both lakes received trout last year and Indian Valley Reservoir was also stocked with juvenile kokanee. Indian Valley Reservoir received 7,500 adult trout and 50,000 juvenile kokanee. Lake Pillsbury received 5,600 trout. So far this winter there have been very few fishermen at either Indian Valley Reservoir or Lake Pillsbury. Both lakes have an excellent bass fishery for both largemouths and smallmouths.